We’ve got just five NHL games on tap today, but there will be plenty of star power on display as the Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, and Winnipeg Jets take to the ice.
My NHL picks for Sunday, January 26 focus on a shot prop for Nathan MacKinnon, a multi-point prop for Kirill Kaprizov, as well as a goal prop for Mark Scheifele.
NHL prop picks and best bets for January 26
MacKinnon 5+ shots on goal (+155 at bet365)
Kaprizov Over 1.5 points (+135 at bet365)
Scheifele anytime goalscorer (+150 at bet365)
Today’s NHL prop picks and best bets
Nathan MacKinnon 5+ shots on goal (+155 at bet365)
The Colorado Avalanche were involved in a three-way trade that sent shockwaves through the NHL on Friday as they parted ways with Mikko Rantanen in exchange for Martin Necas and Taylor Hall.
The Avalanche superstar logged eight shots in Saturday’s defeat, marking the third straight game in which he’s thrown at least six pucks on net. In fact, MacKinnon ranks fourth among all skaters in shots on goal this month with 49 in 12 contests — just over four per game.
I like his chances of bumping that number up to five against the New York Rangers, who rank fourth-last in the league in shots against per game (31.1).
MacKinnon has always been a high-volume shooter, but without Rantanen on his wing, we could see him take matters into his own hands to an even greater degree.
Kirill Kaprizov Over 1.5 points (+135 at bet365)
Kirill Kaprizov returned to the Minnesota Wild lineup last Thursday after missing a month with a lower-body injury and logged just 16:39 of ice time in a 4-0 loss to Utah.
Fortunately for the Wild, Kaprizov saw his ice time jump up to 21:24 in Saturday’s loss while he got back onto the score sheet with an assist.
Kirill The Thrill has been a multi-point mastermind this season, notching 2+ points in 16 of his 36 contests. Given that he’s nearly a coin flip to produce a multi-point outing on any given night, I like his NHL odds of doing just that against a tanking Chicago Blackhawks team.
Chicago finds itself in the basement of the NHL standings with just one win in its last seven contests while allowing 3.86 goals against per game over that span and 4+ goals in five of those outings. That’s even worse than the club’s season average of 3.44, which ranks third-worst in the league.
With Kaprizov getting back up to speed, he’ll have a good shot at boosting his confidence and his point totals against a weak Blackhawks squad.
Mark Scheifele anytime goalscorer (+150 at bet365)
The Winnipeg Jets welcome the red-hot Calgary Flames to Canada Life Centre on Sunday evening, with the visitors going 3-0 in their last three and 6-2 over their last eight.
The Flames, however, will likely turn to their backup goaltender, Dan Vladar, for tonight’s contest, as starter Dustin Wolf picked up the win on Saturday. Wolf has been stellar for Calgary with a 6-1-0 record over his last seven, but the same can’t be said for Vladar.
Calgary’s backup owns a subpar .889 SV% to go along with a 3.03 GAA this season. Over his last seven starts, Vladar has posted a brutal .859 SV% and a 3.74 GAA while allowing 3+ goals in five of those games — including a season-worst eight goals against the Lightning on December 12.
Jets captain Mark Scheifele has not scored in four straight games but will look to get back on track against a reeling Flames goaltender.
The center is still shooting a piping hot 23.4% this season — second in the NHL among all players with at least 100 shots on net — so he’s bound to score one soon if he keeps firing.
NHL odds today
Here are the full NHL odds for all of today’s matchups.
Not intended for use in MA.
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